Gun control.

Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration.

Bart McEntire, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told SPLC researchers that this is the most growth he’s seen in more than a decade.

“All it’s lacking is a spark,” McEntire said in the report.

It’s reminiscent of what was seen in the 1990s – right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called “sovereign citizens” are popping up in large numbers, according to the report to be released Wednesday. The SPLC is a nonprofit civil rights group that, among other activities, investigates hate groups.

Last October, someone from the Ohio Militia posted a recruiting video on YouTube, billed as a “wake-up call” for America. It’s been viewed more than 60,000 times.

“Things are bad, things are real bad, and it’s going to be a lot worse,” said the man on the video, who did not give his name. “Our country is in peril.”

The man is holding an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and he encourages viewers to buy one.

While anti-government sentiment has been on the rise over the last two years, there aren’t as many threats and violent acts at this point as there were in the 1990s, according to the report. That movement bore the likes of Timothy McVeigh, who in 1995 blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people.

But McEntire fears it’s only a matter of time.

These militias are concentrated in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the Deep South, according to Mark Potok, an SPLC staff director who co-wrote the report. Recruiting videos and other outreach on the Internet are on the rise, he said, and researchers from his center found at least 50 new groups in the last few months.

The militia movement of the 1990s gained traction with growing concerns about gun control, environmental laws and anything perceived as liberal government meddling.

The spark for that movement came in 1992 with an FBI standoff with white separatist Randall Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Weaver’s wife and son were killed by an FBI sniper. And in 1993, a 52-day standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, resulted in nearly 80 deaths. These events rallied more people who became convinced that the government would murder its own citizens to promote its liberal agenda.

Now officials are seeing a new generation of activists, according to the report. The law center spotlights Edward Koernke, a Michigan man who hosts an Internet radio show about militias. His father, Mark, was a major figure in the 1990s militia movement and served six years in prison for charges including assaulting police.

Last year, officials warned about an increase in activity from militias in a five-year threat projection by the Homeland Security Department.

“White supremacists and militias are more violent and thus more likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks on the scale of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing,” the threat projection said.

A series of domestic terrorism incidents over the past year have not been directly tied to organized militias, but the rhetoric behind some of the crimes are similar with that of the militia movement. For instance, the man charged with the April killings of three Pittsburgh police officers posted some of his views online. Richard Andrew Poplawski wrote that U.S. troops could be used against American citizens, and he thinks a gun ban could be coming.

The FBI’s assistant director for counterterrorism, Michael Heimbach, said that law enforcement officials need to identify people who go beyond hateful rhetoric and decide to commit violent acts and crimes. Heimbach said one of the bigger challenges is identifying the lone-wolf offenders.

One alleged example of a lone-wolf offender is the 88-year-old man charged in the June shooting death of a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

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One Comment on “Gun control.”

I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. Reading about the music industry’s symbolism has been especially interesting! However, I have to speak up about this article, which is terribly misleading. The SPLC is attempting to use race as a scapegoat for the rebirth of Constitutionalists. This is a straw man argument, and one that, once scrutinized, doesn’t hold weight.

See, the first “gun control” laws were to keep black folks (newly freed slaves) from owning guns. The very roots of gun control are grounded solidly in racism!

Furthermore, the founding fathers called for a well regulated militia (of and by the people) to protect the people from a corrupt government. If you don’t believe our gov’t (under Bush, Clinton, or Obama) is absolutely stinking corrupt, then you’re in good company – the folks at Goldman Sachs, the Federal Reserve, IRS and Fannie Mae agree with you wholeheartedly!

Many gun owners are minorities – and rightfully so! We ALL ought to have the right to protect ourselves and our families from danger! What’s the alternative? Wait for the cops to protect us?! Ask any black man if he’d rather wait for the loving police or if he’d prefer to have the means to protect himself and his family – and see what reaction you get.

I’d also implore you to please educate yourself about what happens to nations whose people have been disarmed. Look at Russia, China, Germany – the people were disarmed and genocide ensued and MILLIONS were slaughtered like helpless animals at the hands of their governments.

Gun rights advocates are not racist rednecks with small penises. To attempt to paint an ideological opponent in such a manner completely misses the point – and it keeps we the people divided yet again while corruption marches on in Washington!

BTW – automobiles and Doctors kill significantly more people than guns do every year. Ought we ban cars and healthcare? Or would calling for the retention of our rights to medical care and transportation make me a bigot? 😉